^ 



A DAY 

AT THE 

MISSOURI STATE POULTRY 
EXPERIMENT STATION 

MOUNTAIN GROYE,MISSOURI 




^The Possibilities of* the 

Poultry Industvtf 

ifiJnissoiiri'' 









J 



- \ I 









A DAY AT THE 



MISSOURI STATE POULTRY 
EXPERIMENT STATION 



MOUNTAIN GROVE, MO 




ENTRANCE TO THE POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION 



WITH A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE 
POULTRY INDUSTRY OF MISSOURI 



BY 
T. E. QUISENBERRY 

DIRECTOR 



~<*> 






A \ 



o 



-\ 




Advisory Members of the Missouri State Poultry Board. 



NOV 23 1914 



V, 




W.C. KNORI 



■BHjjjU 

C.A.MORTON 



J.A.MAXWELL 



Officers and members of the Missouri State Poultry Board, 




E.J.BUTZKE M;D 
Bacieriologi9i>* 



T.W. NOLAND 
Sup erintenderrfc. 



fiftjfofc l*> Wiii'i TJi' TJ tt'j f / 



f>:^^&.'i'<flJ t '^j jtL«*fitf »-. .i-l.^ l-J. '^-Z '?-::?. i-J* .. 



Officers of the Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station. 



INTENT AND PURPOSE OF THE STATE POULTRY BOARD 
AND THE STATE POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 

Section 664, article V, Revised Statutes of Missouri. Duties of 
the State Poultry Board. — It shall be the duty of the State Board 
of Poultry to promote and encourage the poultry industry in the State 
of Missouri in all its branches; to organize the poultry raisers of the 
State, for the purpose of affording a systematic means of gathering 
useful information for the use of the board, and to publish the same 
for the benefit of the farmers and poultry raisers of the State of Missouri. 
It shall be their duty to gather poultry statistics and information as to the 
best and most profitable means of raising and handling poultry and 
publish the same in bulletins as frequently as may be deemed expedient; 
hold poultry institutes in different sections of the State, for the purpose 
of giving instructions in the breeding and raising of poultry, provide 
for and manage one annual State poultry exhibit at such time and place 
as may be determined by the board; provide lectures for the promoting 
and encouraging the poultry interests of the State. They shall have 
general management and supervision of such organizations of poultry 
breeders as may be formed under their authority, and power to make 
such needful rules and regulations as will best promote the objects of 
their organization; and shall make an annual report to the General 
Assembly of the State, embracing an abstract of the work accomplished 
by the board for the next preceding year, and accompanied by such 
recommendations, including especially such a system of public instruc- 
tion on this subject as may be deemed useful. 

Section 84d, Session Acts of Missouri, 1911. Objects and Pur- 
poses of the State Poultry Experiment Station. — In order to 
determine and demonstrate the importance of improved and better 
methods of feeding, housing, incubation, brooding, breeding and rearing 
of poultry, and to bring the results of scientific research of State and 
Federal Experiment Stations within the reach of all farmers and poultry 
raisers of Missouri, the State Poultry Board shall establish, conduct 
and maintain a State Poultry Experiment Station. The objects and 
purposes of said Experiment Station shall be to experiment with the 
different kinds of houses, incubators, brooders and appliances, and the 
different varieties of poultry, to determine which are best adapted to 
the farmers and poultry raisers of Missouri in the different sections 
thereof, to make a study of different diseases to which poultry is subject 
and the remedies to prevent such diseases, and to make all other ex- 
periments and tests and do any and all other things which shall tend 
to the betterment of the poultry interests of the State. 

(5) 



6 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 






<\NNIE ROAN 
PackincC Department 



Employes of the Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station, 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 






Some of the activities of the Experiment Station Farm, 



8 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 




Lady Show You." Laid 281 eggs at the Missouri State Poultry Experiment Station 
in twelve months, and holds the Worlds record for a two-year old hen. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



9 




POSSIBILITIES OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY IN MISSOURI. 

The Missouri hen and 
her product are the pride 
of nearly 300,000 Mis- 
souri housewives, and of 
twice that many country- 
bred boys and girls. The 
cackling songs of the 
morning hours are sweet 
music to these queens in 
Missouri's farm homes, 
and the product from the 
poultry yard is their bank 
account. 

The poultry business is 
not a "get-rich-quick 
scheme." We wish to 
discourage any such fallacy. But the reason for the greatness of the 
poultry products of Missouri is because of the fact that practically every 
farm has poultry upon it, and this poultry has proven profitable to the 
farmer in most instances because, of Missouri's natural advantages as 
a poultry State — its soil, its climate, its markets, its grains, its trans- 
portation facilities and its people. Missouri is also great in extent, 
being larger than eight of the Eastern and New England States, all 
combined, but at the same time it produces annually millions of dollars 
worth of eggs and poultry in excess of its own needs. Practically all 
of this comes from the general farm, and but little of it from commercial 
egg and poultry farms. While such farms, if properly managed, could 
come as near succeeding here as elsewhere, yet we must say that our mil- 
lions come from farm poultry and not from poultry farms. 

Missouri Soil. — No State has soil or land better adapted to poultry 
raising than Missouri. We have much of that rich black loam and 
sandy gravelly soil. Most of our State is a rolling prairie which is well 
drained, and we have the beautiful Ozarks in the southern portion of 
the State. Our land is reasonable in price, and upon a large portion of 
the farms there are springs and running water which add to its natural 
advantages for poultry. 

Missouri s Climate. — We are not troubled with the cold and the 
storms of the north, nor with the heat and the drouths of the south. 
Our winters are not so severe but that it is possible to have broilers or 
fryers the year around. Our climate does not necessitate the building 
of expensive houses. Missouri is a great poultry State in the center 
of a great nation. 



10 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

Missouri* s Grains. — Missouri being in the valley of the Missouri 
and Mississippi rivers makes it one of the most fertile and greatest 
grain producing states. Here the finest and best feeds known for 
poultry are abundantly and economically grown. The poultryman 
who has to purchase his feeds can find them as reasonable in price here 
as in any state. The poultrymen of the east have to pay nearly double 
the price for their grains that Missouri poultrymen do. Clover, alfalfa, 
forage and green crops grow in abundance in most sections of the State. 
The hens on the farm consume grasses, bugs and worms and waste prod- 
ucts and convert these into money. Much of this would otherwise be 
wasted. 

Missouri's Transportation Facilities. — Good lines of railroad 
traverse the State in practically every direction. Missouri is within 
twenty-four hours run of New York City, and no matter in which sec- 
tion of the State you desire to locate, you can so situate yourself that 
you will have quick service to all the outside world. 

Missouri's Markets. — Few, if any, states offer greater opportu- 
nities for poultry culture than Missouri. We have St. Louis on one 
side of the State and Kansas City on the other, two of the largest 
cities of this country. We have a large number of smaller cities within 
our border. Besides, we are within a few hours run of Chicago and 
within twenty-four hours of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. 
Most all railroads in Missouri, especially the trunk lines, have fast 
refrigerator service. The best markets of the world are at our door 
or easily within our reach. 

Missouri's Possibilities. — Millions of pounds of beef are being 
imported into this country each month of the year. The live stock 
markets of this country show a rapid decrease in beef, pork and mutton. 
Poultry and egg production is upon the increase, and it is to the hen 
that we must look for much of the meat supply of the future. Missouri 
offers advantages along this line which cannot be excelled by any other 
state. The production of broilers, fryers and roasters is becoming 
more profitable each year. Most of the money, however, which is 
made in the poultry business in Missouri is made from eggs. Egg 
farming on the general farm or on the commercial farm should be en- 
couraged. There is a great demand for baby chicks, and the mam- 
moth incubators and large hatcheries are doing a profitable business 
in many localities. 

Missouri is one of the great turkey states of the Union. This 
branch of the industry can be made very profitable, and we have ex- 
amples of this on hundreds of Missouri farms. Several duck farms 
are being established and some find the market duck business very 
profitable. 

In every part of Missouri there are local buyers and dealers in 
poultry and eggs in a wholesale way. There are about 1 ,500 such firms 
in Missouri. Many of them have large plants for fattening, killing, 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



11 



packing, storing and marketing poultry and eggs in carload lots. Some 
of these plants work dozens of employes, and some fatten as many as 
65,000 chickens at one time. If you could combine all these plants 
into one big plant, you would have an institution larger than all the 
big live stock packing houses of our cities, such as Armours, Swifts and 
others, and an institution employing a great many more people. Great 
is Missouri's poultry products and great are the opportunities in poultry 
culture in Missouri. 




The Missouri turkey is the crowning centerpiece of many festal boards during th< 

holiday season. 



12 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



THE DEDICATION. 




The Knight Templars preparing to lead the procession to the Experiment Station 

for the dedication. 




The visitors assembled to witness the dedicatory services. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



13 



THE WORKSHOP. 




The Administration building — contains offices, museum, egg room, mailing room, 
incubator room, laboratory, photograph room, assembly hall, water and heating plants. 




The residence. 



U 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



INTERIOR OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 




The Director's office — answering a day's correspondence and solving poultry prob- 
lems for Missouri farmers and poultry raisers. 




The Assistant Secretary's office — The many records kept make the work of real value. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



15 



INTERIOR OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 




Bacteriologist's office — Studying the cause, prevention and cure for poultry 
diseases. 




Stenographer's office — Four hundred letters received in a single mail. 
Over 20,000 letters were answered last year. 



16 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



INTERIOR OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 




Laboratory — Investigating poultry diseases. 



'■■»«'■ 




Laboratory — Answering correspondence relative to poultry diseases. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



17 



INTERIOR.OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 




One side of the egg room — Missouri's annual egg crop exceeds $20,000,000. 




Grading and packing eggs for market. 



IS 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



INTERIOR OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 




Educational exhibit room — Models and plans for all kinds of poultry houses and 
appliances are shown. 




Seeing is believing. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



19 



INTERIOR OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 



Wat e r 3y g t e m 





c ni;rai nee. 





The scarcity of beef and other meat products makes an increasing demand for 
•oultry and eggs at increased prices. 



20 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



INCUBATION. 




Our 5,400 egg incubator — A chick well hatched is half raised. 




Room for experimental incubation. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION 



21 



INCUBATION. 





Hatching boxes, natural incubation— Common-sense methods are as essential in 
poultry raising as elsewhere. 




Just hatched— Chickens bring joy and profit to many Missouri country-bred boys and girls. 



oo 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



BROODING. 




"TT 



Brooder house No. 1 — 4,000-chick capacity. 





<~.«»*0£^Hi 





Natural Brooding— A little inexpensive equipment often adds to both the pi 
and the profit. 



easure 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



23 



BROODING. 







Brooder house No. 2— Comfort makes possible rapid growth and development. 




Brooder stove, night scene— 1,000 chicks in one room. 



24 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



VIEWS OF THE EGG-LAYING CONTEST. 




Hens being tested for egg production. 




m*-^4 







Birds from all parts of Missouri, twenty-five states and seven foreign countries 
are competing here. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



25 



VIEWS OF EGG-LAYING CONTEST. 




Stop selection and breeding for egg production and what would happen. 





The proof of the pudding is in the laying. 



26 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



GOVERNOR ELLIOTT W. MAJOR'S TRIBUTE TO THE MIS- 
SOURI HEN. 

"The Missouri hen lays twenty-four eggs for each man, woman and 
child in the United States. 

"The output of the Missouri hen is $50,000,000 a year, which 
exceeds the wheat crop in the whole State of Arkansas for any given 
year, the entire cotton crop of the states of Florida, Tennessee and 
Louisiana, and the gold produced from the earth of Arizona, Colorado 
and California. 

"If the eggs laid annually by the Missouri hen were placed end to 
end they would reach round the world four times. 

"If the Missouri hen cackled every time she laid an egg (judging 
by all the laws of science that her cackle would be heard 100 yards and 
that each hen in turn took up the echo), the announcement would reach 
6,250 times round the world — and that is going some. 

"It has always been England's proud boast that the beat of her 
drum could be heard round the world, but the cackle of the Missouri 
hen drowns the beat of the British drum. 

"In the egg-laying contest the Missouri hen took the prize by 
scoring (I believe) 281 eggs in one year. If this same hen — this Mis- 
souri hen — could be placed in proper file and taught to scratch system- 
atically, she would have dug the Panama canal while the Federal Gov- 
ernment was breakfasting over the proposition." 



MISSOURI, POULTRY QUEEN OF THE UNION. 

From Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jefferson City, Mo. 

Poultry and eggs to the value of $49,537,025 were sold in 1912 by 
the farmers and poultry raisers of Missouri. Further information on 
this interesting and thrifty industry is that the shipments of poultry, 
eggs and feathers from the 1 1 4 counties of the State to the larger markets, 
which include St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Chicago, Cleveland, 
Memphis, Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Boston and other 
large cities, for the same year, were worth $31,461,739. These figures 
are record-breakers, and therefore mean that Missouri is still the "Poultry 
Queen of the Union," a title which was bestowed four years ago when 
Missouri took first rank for this industry over all other states. 

Many carloads of poultry and eggs were shipped directly in 1912 
from concentrating centers, such as Moberly, Joplin, Sedalia, California, 
Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Kansas City and St. Louis, to the eastern 
cities mentioned. As vast quantities of poultry and eggs form a part 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 27 

of the cold storage provisions which the huge steamers plying between 
New York and European ports place on the daily menu for their pas- 
sengers, the indications are that Missouri farmyard products were even 
carried across the Atlantic and eaten in those different cities. 

The calculations of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the poultry 
industry of Missouri are based on the quantity of chicken, turkey, 
duck, geese, eggs and similar products actually shipped from the cities, 
towns and villages of the State during the year 1912. Of live poultry, 
the shipments amounted to 95,856,612 pounds, which, at ten cents a 
pound, were worth $9,585,661. It was stated in a bulletin issued in 
October, 1913, that this quantity represented only two-fifths of the 
poultry actually sold by the farmers. Conservative estimations in- 
dicated that another fifth was sold in the cities and towns of the counties 
close to which the poultry raisers live, leaving two-fifths for the con- 
sumption of the families of the producing farmers and for propagation 
purposes. This placed the total sales at 143,784,918 pounds and the 
worth at $14,784,918. 

Of dressed poultry, the shipment from the 114 counties of the 
State amounted to 41,558,494 pounds, worth $5,194,812. It was 
estimated that much more was sold locally by the farmers, making a 
total of 83,1 16,988 pounds, worth $10,389,624, marketed locally and as 
a surplus. 

The largest item of all is eggs, this commodity bringing in more 
than all poultry did, live or dressed. The shipments approximated 
107,835,237 dozens, which, at 15 cents per dozen, a low wholesale value 
for the year around, made the worth $16,175,286. It was further 
stated in the bulletin covering the poultry industry of Missouri that there 
were sold locally by farmers and poultry raisers 53,917,618 more dozens, 
worth $8,087,643. When the shipments and home consumption of 
eggs are aggregated it gives sales amounting to 161,752,855 dozen, value 
$24,262,929. 

FORTUNE IN FEATHERS. 

A feather does not weigh much and has little value, but when the 
shipments of this downy product from the 1 1 4 counties of the State 
for 1912 reach a weight of 1,264,949 pounds, then this portion of the 
poultry industry becomes a large item, since the value of the quantity 
mentioned approximates $505,980. No estimations were made in the 
poultry bulletin on the quantity of feathers the farmers and poultry 
raisers used at home or threw away. 

Every county of Missouri is now a poultry producer, but the Ozark 
section takes the lead in the quantity produced and value. Greene 
county, with Springfield as the center, for 1912 ranked first in quantity 
of eggs shipped. Returns from railroad and express agents there show 
that 8,102,460 dozen left that county in the course of the year, some 
having been hauled from surrounding counties in wagons and others 



28 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

having come short distances on railroads before they were finally packed 
in refrigerator cars to commence a long journey northeast. This county 
also shipped out 3,620,295 pounds of dressed and 5,522,214 pounds of 
live poultry. 

Lincoln county sent markets outside of its borders, by railroad and 
express, 5,579,100 pounds of live poultry, leading all other Missouri 
counties in this respect. 

Franklin county, with Washington as the center, shipped out 
3,152,071 pounds of live poultry. 

Pettis county, with Sedalia as the leading shipping point, holds 
high rank as a concentrating and shipping center. In 1912 there was 
sent out from this portion of Missouri 4,131,461 pounds of dressed 
poultry, 2,030,640 dozens of eggs and 1,023,299 pounds of live poultry. 

Randolph county shipped out 2,541,961 pounds of dressed poultry; 
Jackson county sent into Kansas City 2,543,418 pounds; Mercer county 
shipped 2,481,561 pounds; Linn county, 2,475,952 pounds, and Henry 
county, 2, 23 1 ,504 pounds. The latter county also shipped out 4,288,500 
dozens of eggs; Livingston county, 3,226,080 dozens, and Vernon county, 
3,834,580 dozens. Large shipments of poultry and eggs were made in 
Polk, Nodaway, Montgomery, Moniteau, Lawrence, Jasper, Bates, 
Buchanan and Grundy counties. The eggs and poultry of St. Louis 
county, a vast quantity, chiefly went into St. Louis in wagons. 

POULTRY PRODUCTS ON THE INCREASE. 

Dairying and poultry raising, which a few years ago were con- 
sidered side issues in Missouri, are now absolutely adjuncts to every 
farm by reason of the constantly growing demand for these products. 
Especially is this true of the latter industry. The poultry and eggs of 
this State which were marketed during the year of 1913 sold for 
$50,000,000 in round numbers. The entire production, including home 
consumption, during these twelve months was valued at $78,000,000. 

With all unimproved lands still remaining for settlement taken up, 
the annual poultry industry will reach the $100,000,000 mark. This 
is some of the wealth which is in store for the settlers who hasten here 
early, purchase a farm on the installment plan and busy themselves 
producing the commodities for which Missouri already has a national 
reputation. 

EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE MISSOURI FED- 
ERATION OF COMMERCIAL CLUBS. 

And last, but not least, there is the Missouri hen which has made 
Missouri the greatest poultry-producing State in the Union, and which 
could pay for the digging of the Panama canal in eight years — a stu- 
pendous enterprise which has attracted the attention of the entire 
civilized world. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 29 



"SOME PUMPKINS" IN POULTRY. 

Hon. W. L. Nelson's (Assistant Secretary of the Board of Agriculture) Opinion 

of the Missouri Hen. 

"Some pumpkins" in poultry! The value of Missouri poultry 
products for a single year approximates $50,000,000, or more than that 
of any other state. This is something to crow over. According to 
Governor Major, the Missouri hen lays enough eggs to give to each 
man, woman and child in the United States two dozen eggs annually. 
In a world-wide egg-laying contest just concluded a Missouri hen 
was the winner. If all the chickens in Missouri were one rooster and 
that rooster were "swatted" according to Marquis of Quisenberry 
(prize poultryman, not prize fighter,) rules, a single drumstick would 
make the "big stick" of politics look like a splinter on a sawlog. 



POULTRY RAISING A GREAT INDUSTRY IN MISSOURI. 

Hon. Geo. B. Ellis' (Managing Editor of the Missouri Farmer) Tribute 

to the Missouri Hen. 

Missouri ranks among the best winter wheat states of the Union — 
our annual contribution to the world's bread basket being from twenty- 
five to thirty-five million bushel, and it requires two million acres of 
our best farm lands to produce this crop. 

The little red hen, getting her sustenance largely from insects, 
weed seeds and the waste of the barnyard, brings to the "pin-money 
bank account" of our farmers' wives double the amount of our wheat 
crop. 

Few people on first thought will credit the statement that the 
poultry industry of Missouri has a greater value than the wheat and oats 
crop combined, but the United States census for the year 1910 verifies 
the fact that the wives of Missouri farmers hold in their poultry account 
more value by $4,680,000 than the value of the wheat and oats produced 
in the census year of 1 909. 

The total value of all domestic animals sold off our farms in 1909, 
including those slaughtered for home use, amounted to the magnificent 
sum of $159,239,222. For every dollar brought into the farmer's bank 
account by all the animals sold, including also all that were consumed 
at home, the farmer's wife put away one-third as much from the proceeds 
of the poultry yard. 

Missouri's greatest cereal crop is corn, the value of which is ex- 
ceeded by the crop of only two other states in the Union — the value of 
a single year's crop being one hundred million dollars. Vast as this 



30 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

sum is. the little red hen and her product for two years would buy the 
great corn crop produced in any one year. 

But few states excel Missouri in the production of cattle, our annual 
surplus amounting to forty millions of dollars. The little red hen looks 
small and insignificant beside a big beef animal, yet her bank account 
is ten million dollars more than that produced by the beef cattle of the 
State. 

Missouri has more than 25,000 acres of coal area and also great 
fields of lead, zinc, iron and other minerals, supplying manufacturers 
more than thirty million dollars a year in these materials, but the modest 
little hen brings more wealth to the State, by $16,000,000, than do all 
our mineral products combined. 

Poultry is more universally kept on our farms than any other class 
of domestic animals. Out of every one hundred farms which keep any 
live stock at all 93.6 keep poultry. 

The cackle of the Missouri hen is sweet music to nearly three hun- 
dred thousand good mothers and more than half a million country-bred 
boys and girls. Many little feet are clad in shoes paid for with the 
products of the poultry yard, and many pupils in the country schools 
get their daily lessons from books paid for in the same good way. We 
fear the burden of better country schools and good country roads be- 
cause of greater taxation, but if we will set aside the products of the 
poultry yard for the next ten years it will macadamize every mile of 
public road in the State. Great is the Missouri hen. 

Through the Poultry Experiment Station at Mountain Grove and 
the Poultry Department of the University at Columbia, Missouri's 
poultry industry will become more profitable and to a greater extent 
in the future will contribute its share to the general prosperity of the 
State. 



A six-months-old pullet with her chicks which she has hatched from her 



own eggs. 



'OULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



31 



GENERAL VIEWS. 




Administration building, brooder house, elevator, walks and driveways. 




A view at the rear of the Administration building. 



32 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 







Farmers fool-proof house. Its advantages: Convenience, simplicity, dryness, 
ventilation and sunshine. 




IKlHPill 









^istSiMSi. 



ii^l^^Jllilil 







Fool-proof colony house. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



33 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




3a 



The hen appreciates a comfortable home. 



34 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




Sanitation means much. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



35 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




The happy hen is the profitable hen. 



Oft 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




Protection from dampness and storms necessitates a larger egg basket. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION, 



37 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 







The Woods poultry house — Capacity, 250 laying hens. 




A flock of high layers— The cackle of the hen is sweet music to the ear of nearly 
300,000 of Missouri's good farm wives. 






38 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




Elevator and feed house — wholesome foods make wholesome eggs and hardy fowls. 





Interior of elevator and feed house — Shows a portion of machinery used in prep- 
aration and mixing feeds, 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



39 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




The carpenter shop, storage room and machinery building. 




The barn. 



40 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




End view of 180-foot experimental breeding house. 







Front view of the same house— The chickens pass out into the yards by passing 
underneath the concrete sidewalk which extends the entire length of the house. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



41 



EXPERIMENT STATION HOUSES. 




The hospital — Where all diseased birds are confined and disease experiments are 
conducted. 






piggy;- 




"Clean-up day" at the Experiment Station. No farmer or poultryman should 
allow his poultry yards to prove to be an eyesore. 



42 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



HOMEMADE POULTRY APPLIANCES. 




Trap nests — these tell the tale. 





Swat the drones. 




A jail for broody hens. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



43 



HOMEMADE POULTRY APPLIANCES. 




Ourdoor feed hopper for growing stock — grain on one side and dry mash on the 



other 




Indoor feed hopper for dry mash for laying hens. 



44 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



THE WORK OF THE STATE POULTRY EXPERIMENT 

STATION. 

Only three years have passed since the State Poultry Experiment 
Station was located and established at Mountain Grove. The improve- 
ment which you see on this visit, 'A Day at the State Poultry Ex- 
periment Station," has all taken place since that time. For your in- 
formation and benefit we review the work which has been accomplished 
during the past year. 

More has been done by the State Poultry Experiment Station 
during the past year for the betterment and improvement of the great 
poultry interests of Missouri than has been done in all the previous 
history of the State. 

One year ago we started what we termed "Rooster Day." We 
adopted the slogan, "Swat the Rooster," during the hot summer months, 
and since that time this has been taken up and has been adopted in a 
large number of other states. We have made a campaign for a higher 
quality market egg and an infertile egg, and it is estimated by govern- 
ment authorities and others who are in a position to know the facts 
that the improvement which can be made in the quality of eggs in this 
State during a single season will amount to something between one and 
three million dollars. This amount will be made for the producer 
because of the higher price he will be able to get for his eggs, and saved 
to the consumer because it will save him from the loss of this amount 
in eggs this summer. Our State Pure Food Department condemns 
thousands of eggs each season, which are dumped into the Missouri 
and Mississippi rivers, and our campaign for infertile eggs will save 
much of this tremendous loss. The returns which we received from 
poultry dealers in the State show that 399,176 roosters were marketed 
on "Rooster Day," Saturday, June 6th. 

More poultry institutes and farmers meetings have been held by 
this institution during the past year than were held in all the previous 
history of the State. 

We held nine poultry field meetings in different sections of the 
State, and more than 20,000 people were in attendance. At each of 
these meetings there were lectures, demonstrations in selection, judging, 
caponizing, and a poultry exhibit was staged and moving poultry pic- 
tures were run for the information and benefit of the people. 

We published more poultry bulletins and poultry literature during 
the past eighteen months than have ever been published all together 
during the entire history of the State. These bulletins give the farmers 
and poultry raisers the very latest and best information with reference 
to the construction of poultry houses, breeding, feeding, incubation, 
brooding, marketing, poultry diseases and various problems of interest 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 45 

to farmers and poultry raisers. The demand for our literature far 
exceeds the supply. 

Our correspondence is growing each year, and recently in a single 
mail we received four hundred letters asking various questions with 
reference to poultry problems. We answer from 2,000 to 4,000 letters 
per month from farmers and poultry raisers within the State. 

During the past year we ran six demonstration trains over different 
lines of railroad. On each of these trains we carried an exhibit of model 
farm poultry houses, coops, hoppers, nests, roosts and various other 
homemade poultry appliances, and also delivered lectures in each town 
to the farmers, business men and to the students in the high school and 
the public schools. 

We recently organized the first Co-operative Egg Marketing Asso- 
ciation that was ever organized west of the Mississippi river. There 
are quite a number of these in the east and in Canada, and in foreign 
countries, but this is the first that was ever organized in this State or 
west of the Mississippi. The object of this association is to have the 
farmers co-operate in improving the quality of their eggs and in market- 
ing their products, and assist them in obtaining better prices and placing 
the producer in closer touch with the consumer. 

During the past year we put on educational exhibits consisting of 
enlarged photographs, miniature poultry houses, hoppers, nests, roosts, 
good and bad methods of handling poultry and eggs, and various other 
things of a similar nature, at county fairs for the benefit and instruction 
of the farmers and poultry raisers of Missouri. These were exhibited 
at the State Fair, the American Royal, the State Poultry Show and at 
about fifty county fairs and poultry shows throughout the State. 

We gave lectures and made demonstrations in practically every 
part of the State. We gave demonstrations in caponizing, selection and 
judging, and did other work of a similar nature. We held short courses 
where we gave three days' instruction to farmers, poultry raisers and 
students of the public schools, and made talks at many rural schools, 
and also distributed a great many settings of eggs from the high-bred 
poultry at the Experiment Station to the students in the rural schools 
who would agree to hatch the eggs and care for the chickens under our 
direction. 

We have held the State Poultry Show and encouraged the State 
Poultry Association, which is an organization of farmers and poultry 
raisers living in practically every county in Missouri, and during the 
past year we have built this association up until it is now by far the 
largest State Poultry Association in the United States. We now have 
a membership of about 4,000. 

We are conducting at the Experiment Station what we have termed 
"The Missouri National Egg-Laying Contest." We have hens in this 
contest from all parts of Missouri. They have been sent from twenty- 
five other states and from seven foreign countries. This is the largest 



46 A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

and greatest egg-laying contest that has ever been conducted in any 
part of the world by any state, government or private institution. 

We have been conducting experiments in breeding, feeding, housing, 
incubation, brooding, marketing, diseases, etc., and work of this sort 
has been conducted on a larger and better scale during the past year 
at this institution than we have ever been able to do the work previous 
to that time. 

We sent men from this institution to judge poultry at quite a 
number of county fairs and county poultry shows during the past year 
where the organizations were not able to employ expert licensed judges. 

The work of this institution has attracted hundreds and hundreds 
of visitors during the past year from all parts of Missouri, from a large 
number of other states, and even from foreign countries. 

In addition to the poultry and eggs which have been used by this 
institution for breeding purposes and for our own incubation and ex- 
perimental work, we have sold and marketed a surplus of over $5,000. 
This is all turned in to the State treasury. 

The increase in the poultry products of the State have been greater 
during the past year than at any previous time in our history. Poultry 
can be found upon practically every farm, and farmers are taking more 
interest in raising poultry and producing good eggs than ever before. 
We have spent a great deal of time and energy during the past eighteen 
months to help bring this about. 

We have kept one man busy most of his time showing visitors 
through the Experiment Station and spending hour after hour with them 
and assisting them in solving their poultry problems and showing them 
the very latest and best methods for the care and management of their 
flocks. 

During the past few months this institution has been offering a 
correspondence course in poultry husbandry to the farmers and poultry 
raisers of the State who are not fortunate enough and cannot leave their 
homes and places of business long enough to attend an Agricultural 
College or visit the Experiment Station. We are enrolling a number 
of students every week and they are taking great interest in the work, 
and we are giving them practically as complete a course by corre- 
spondence as they could get if they attended any agricultural college 
in existence. It will only be a question of a short time until several 
hundred Missouri boys and girls, Missouri farmers and poultry raisers 
are taking this correspondence course. 

A large number of people are sending diseased birds to the Ex- 
periment Station to be examined; many are writing to know what make 
of incubator or brooder or poultry appliances should be bought; others 
are asking for information about poultry remedies which they con- 
template buying, many of which are absolute fakes, and hundreds and 
hundreds of similar questions are being asked us every month in the year. 

In addition to our other work which I have mentioned, we are 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 47 

sending out quite a number of articles on poultry every month in the 
year to poultry journals, farm papers and other publications. 

We have also completed plans and are now equipping a ten-acre 
model demonstration poultry farm. This farm is equipped with a 
view of making it a one-man poultry farm, and we hope to show how 
ten acres of land can be used to the best advantage with poultry occu- 
pying the chief portion of the farm. Poultry raising will be combined 
with the growing of small fruits, the keeping of bees, gardening, and 
the raising of hogs, and similar things which may be combined to the 
best advantage. We expect to show just how to plan, arrange and 
equip a farm so that the greatest amount of revenue can be realized 
with the least expenditure of time and money. The farm will be modern 
and up-to-date in every particular yet the buildings will be economically 
built, and we hope to be able to demonstrate just how to go about 
making a living on a small tract of land. This one experiment alone will 
be worth a great deal to the people of the State. 

With the help and co-operation of the farmers and poultry breeders 
of the State and with a reasonable appropriation by the State Legisla- 
ture, we feel certain that the State Poultry Experiment Station and the 
State Poultry Board will be able to benefit the people of the State a 
hundredfold for every dollar appropriated. It is our sincere desire to 
serve the people. 

T. E. QUISENBERRY, 

Director. 




From a health and economical standpoint, the consuming public has learned 
that it pays to eat more chicken and celery and less hog and hominy. 



48 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



STATE ASSOCIATION VISITORS. 




Visiiing* 4he 
Siaie Pouliry 
xperimeni 
<Slafion, 
Mountain Grove, 
Mo. 




Our guests and friends. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 49 



THE MISSOURI HEN IS MISSOURI'S QUEEN 



You have read of Maude on a summer's day 
Who raked, barefooted, the new mown hay; 
You have read of the maid on the early morn 
Who milked the cow with a crumpled horn. 

You have read of the lays the poets sing, 

Of the rustling corn and the flowers of spring; 

But of all the lays of tongue or pen 

There is naught like the lay of the Missouri hen. 

Long before Maude had raked her hay, 
The Missouri hen had begun to lay, 
And ere the milkmaid had stirred a peg, 
The Missouri hen had laid her egg. 

If Maude needs a new hat or gown 

She doesn't hustle her hay to town; 

But she goes to the store and obtains her suit 

With a basketful of fresh "hen fruit." 

If the milkmaid's beau makes a Sunday call 
She doesn't feed him milk at all, 
But beats up eggs into a custard pie 
And stuffs him full of a chicken fry. 

Then hail ! All hail ! to the Missouri hen ! 
One of the greatest blessings of all to men. 
Corn may be King, but it is plainly seen, 
That the Missouri hen is Missouri's Queen. 



4a 



50 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 

OVER 4,000 VISITORS ANNUALLY. 




Missouri editors inspecting the Poultry Experiment Station. 




The Springfield Business Men's Club visiting the institution. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



51 



WE INVITE YOU TO VISIT US. 




The annual "Poultry Field Meeting Day" at Mountain Grove. 








A high school class in agriculture being taught to select and judge poultry at the 
Experiment Station. 



52 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



BIRD'S-EYE VIEWS OF THE STATION. 








Looking east from the top of the administration building. 




Looking across the Poultry Experiment Station with Mountain Grove in the 
distance. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



53 



BIRD'S-EYE VIEWS OF THE STATION. 




The pheasant pens and a row of fine residences adjoining the Experiment Station. 




One-fourth mile of experimental houses and no two alike. 



54 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



PURE-BRED MALES. 





Barred Plymouth Rock. 



Light Brahma. 





White Orpington. 



White Plymouth Rock. 







S. C. White Leghorn. S. C. R. I. Red. 

BREED THE BEST— BLOOD WILL TELL 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



55 



CAPONS. 




A pair of capons which sold for five dollars — would have brought less than a dollar 
as cockerels. 




Seven-months-old capons — a rapidly growing branch of the poultry industry. 



56 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



A YEAR'S RECORD OF HIGH LAYING HENS. 




Missouri mortgage lifters. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



57 



A YEAR'S RECORD OF HIGH LAYING HENS. 






Red 



m 



; ^W^ 
















While Orpmrftan 

*2 3^2- Eggs 



Sarred Plymouth! 



Black Mit 
208E< 




These turn grass into greenbacks and grain into gold. 



58 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



A YEAR'S RECORD OF HIGH LAYING HENS. 




The Missouri Hen is Missouri's Queen 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



59 



A YEAR'S RECORD OF HIGH LAYING HENS. 




Hens Laid 10A2. KeLcts in National 
EggfLaying^HContest . 




S.C.White Leahorns 
10 Hens Laid ^073 ^E^s in National 



Egg~Laym £ 



CoWtest". 




Eggs are the same as legal tender in any part of this country. 



GO 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



HIGHEST QUALITY EGGS. 








.«%i----- 





Quality counts — "Swat the rooster" and save $3,000,000.00 annually in Missouri 
from loss in bad eggs. 




Highest grade, strictly fresh eggs are always in demand. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



61 



HIGHEST QUALITY EGGS. 



■Mm 





1 



It pays to select and carefully pack eggs for market. 




Clean eggs of uniform size and color. 



62 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



THE BABY CHICK. 



^ ^, 







Vitality all important 





A Good Beginning Makes More 
Certain a Profitable EndtnpT. 



If properly bred and not abused they are quite certain to be profitable. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



63 



VIEWS OF THE STATION PARK. 




The home of the pigeons. 




Make your homes and poultry farms attractive. 



04 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



THE PRIDE OF THE FARM. 





Carleton and Pony Eversole. 




Little, but Oh, Gee! 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



65 



USE COMMON-SENSE METHODS. 




Frederick driving a pair of Experiment Station capons, "Pete and Repete." 




"Friends" — Tom, Bob and Jerry. 



5a 



66 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



TURKEYS AND GEESE. 




Overfeeding means certain failure in raising either turkeys or geese. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



67 



DUCKS. 




A body of water is an advantage, but is not necessary to insure success in raising 
waterfowl. 



68 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



FARM SCENES AT THE POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 




Other branches of agriculture combined with poultry raising makes farming profitable. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



69 



OUR PURPOSE IS TO SERVE MISSOURIANS. 




A wagonload of poultry bulletins ready for mailing. 




They rule the roost. 



70 



A DAY AT THE MISSOURI STATE 



SCENES IN THE STATION PARK. 




The pheasant pens. 




The bridge — A favorite spot. 



POULTRY EXPERIMENT STATION. 



71 



TO OUR FRIENDS. 

This book is dedicated to the Missouri farmers and poultry breeders 
who are doing so much to make Missouri the greatest poultry State in 
the Union. All the buildings and views which have been shown in this 
book were taken on the grounds of the Missouri State Poultry Ex- 
periment Station at Mountain Grove. We invite the people of Missouri 
and other states to spend 'A Day at the Missouri State Poultry Ex- 
periment Station, Mountain Grove, Mo." If you can't come, then 
write us for information when needed. We are here to serve. We 
are at your service. 

Your friend, 

T. E. QUISENBERRY, 

Director. 




Fighting cocks — A frequent scene at the station. 

V 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 851 062 7 




An egg-shaped silver loving cup, gold-lined, designed and offered by the State 
Poultry Experiment Station at Missouri fairs, poultry shows and egg-laying contests. 



hush «tiphins, jerrMsew city 



